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Maztpoala
Formerly known as Frontier, Maztpoala is a region of the Tzaltec Empire conquered from Guilder in the Sunset War. Geography The terrain of Frontier is largely flat and desolate, its wide and rolling plains intersected by a few majestic, thundering rivers and creeks. These rapids burst into flood during the rainy season, and have carved out grand canyons across the landscape, often reaching a half a mile deep, and many more miles long. Even long after the rivers themselves may have dried up, there are rock formations, mesas and plateaus. The largest of these, Dead Man's Gulch is so massive that it has a canyon hidden inside its apex. The four-mile long almost sheer side of Gulch's mesa is a common place to shelter cattle, scrawl graffiti, or even dig mines. Those last are another notable feature of Frontier. Abandoned mines litter the countryside, dangerous, old, and often about to collapse. Since the most lucrative and easy mining for gold or goldfire is always at the surface, there are hundreds of shallow mines scattered across the territory. People The men (and occasionally women) of Frontier are some of the wildest lot you'll see on this side of the drink. They smoke, cuss, gamble, shoot, booze, and dance like no one else in the world could possibly try... well, at least, that's what they thought, until the day that Guilderene sailors rolled into town. They're a tough and hardy lot, always going off and staking new claims on their own, living quiet lives punctuated and livened up by a few raucous binges now and again, in the towns or wherever they can find some "entertainment." This is not to say that Frontier is an uncivilized place... which, incidentally, it is. Instead, it is to say that Frontier is a land populated by a people suited precisely for its life. Those who seek anything but adventure and wilderness will not find it in Frontier. But the people want nothing else but adventure and wilderness, and so are perfectly suited. Religion Frontier's worship is not centralized at all. They have little wood-plank "temples" and "churches" with steeples and all, but little regard for them. The people of Frontier live in a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, and they let it take them over. Just surviving the incursion of Lacertals or other reptiles from land, earth, or sky, is more than enough to keep their eyes off of their hearts. There is hope for a revival though. Tent meetings have swept through Frontier like wildfire before. Resources Frontier's wide, flat mesas are full of the strangest deposits, littered in the ground and filling its rare streams. Its rocky ground makes the perfect home for ores of all sorts, often used decoratively just as mined. However, their main exports are famously gold, a metal as radiant as the sun and as malleable as the hearts of men, as well as Goldfire. Goldfire is an odd metal-like substance, yellow just as gold, and found in many of the same places. However, when broken down or mixed together, its powers grow dangerously. Goldfire cannot be used for forming objects. Instead, it accelerates the energy of reactions. When mixed with a torch, it becomes a beacon; with a campfire it becomes an pyre, with a kettle Goldfire makes an explosion. It is believed to be a type of sulfur, but its properties are far more powerful, and far more strange. Campfire stories say it fell from the scales of Thunder Dragons from far away north, in Maos. Sadly for Frontier, its rocky outcroppings of ores offer little to no protection from the shade. For them, they desperately need cooling items. Without ice from the north, most meat that's out in the open begins to grow foul within a day, sometimes even a few hours. References http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17513250&postcount=6 Category:Regions Category:Regions in the Empire of Dawn Category:Guilder Category:Regions of Telluris